EBBW Vale’s season continued to disappoint as they suffered another Indigo Group Premiership defeat, this time losing to Carmarthen Quins, writes Jay Bayford.

They showed plenty of character and fight as they battled back from a precarious position but weren’t able to complete the comeback, which saw them fall to a fifth consecutive defeat in all competitions.

After losing five of their opening six league games the onus was on the Steelmen to turn the form book upside down but that plan was dented before everyone had taken their seats in the stands.

Ed Siggery was afforded too much space and he did not need an invitation to exploit it to give the visitors the lead. Jack Wilson added the extras.

Dan Haymond got the hosts up and running with a penalty but the Quins responded almost immediately with Jon Evans touching down after a well-executed rolling maul. The scrum half broke free from the group and shrugged off a weak challenge before touching down. Wilson, again, fired over the conversion.

The physicality that Ebbw have built a reputation on over the years was nowhere to be seen as Dale Ford ran through the heart of the pitch, evading tackles as he went through.

The Quins forwards were also enjoying the upper hand and again benefitted from a rolling maul – a previous secret weapon of the Steelmen. Siggery crossed the whitewash to extend the visitors’ lead with Wilson supplying the conversion.

With the clock counting down to half time, Ebbw were given a golden opportunity when Lewys Millin was sent to the sin-bin and after a period of sustained pressure, Euan Rosser dived over in the corner, and Haymond nailed the resulting conversion, to hand the Steelmen a lifeline.

The confidence remained with the hosts after the break and they ate into Carmarthen’s advantage even further through captain Ashley Sweet. Full-back Haymond’s conversion closed the deficit to just four points.

However, their influence started to wane and Carmarthen seized their opportunity to seal the win, and a bonus point, with a late Morgan Griffiths try, despite Haymond hitting a penalty at the death.

Ebbw Vale: D Haymond; D Thomas, P King, D Franchi, E Rosser; D Langdon, M Flanagan; R Jones, J Franchi, R Sevenoaks, L Randall, A Sweet (capt), R Francis, D Rubasniak, L Young.

Replacements: M Davies, W Griffiths, D Whiting, M Ayling, D Hill, H Harding, D Babos, E Phillips.

Scorers: Tries: E Rosser, A Sweet; Cons: D Haymond (2); Pens: D Haymond (2).

Carmarthen Quins: L Randell; D Ford, N Reynolds, J Batcup, M Griffiths; J Wilson, J Evans; S Thomas, T Myhill, B Leung, J Helps, L Taylor, L Millin, R Bloomfield (capt).

Replacements: K Mathias, S Evans, C Allen, H Pugh, S Jones, G Davies, G Rees, C Ford.

Scorers: Tries: E Siggery (2), J Evans, M Griffiths; Cons; J Wilson (2), N Reynolds.

Star man: Dan Haymond (Ebbw Vale).